Fabrication of robot head module using contact-resistance force sensor for human-robot interaction and its evaluation

This paper presents a design of a robot head module with touch sensing algorithms that can simultaneously detect contact force and location. The module is constructed with a hemisphere and three sensor-units that are fabricated using contact-resistance force sensors. The surface-part is designed with the hemisphere that measures 300 mm in diameter and 150 mm in height. Placed at the bottom of the robot head module are three sensor-units fabricated using a simple screen printing technique. The contact force and the location of the model are evaluated through the calibration setup. The experiment showed that the calculated contact positions almost coincided with the applied load points as the contact location changed with a location error of about ±8.67 mm. The force responses of the module were evaluated at two points under loading and unloading conditions from 0 N to 5 N. The robot head module showed almost the same force responses at the two points.

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